The 34th Arab League Summit began in Baghdad, marking the fourth time Iraq has hosted the event and its first since 2012.

Leaders from 22 Arab states have gathered in the Iraqi capital to address urgent regional issues.

The war in Gaza is expected to dominate the agenda, especially after Israel approved plans to expand its offensive and spoke of the "conquest" of the territory.

The summit is also expected to tackle conflicts in Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Libya, and the ongoing negotiations over nuclear deal between Iran and the US.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres will attend the summit, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez — who has sharply criticised the Israeli onslaught — is expected to address it as a guest.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said the Baghdad meeting would endorse decisions that were made at the March summit in Cairo to support Gaza's reconstruction as an alternative to Trump's widely condemned proposal.

The president reiterated the proposal on his Gulf tour this week, saying in Qatar on Thursday that he wanted the United States to "take" Gaza and turn it into a "freedom zone".

US-Iran nuclear talks

The summit also comes amid Iran's ongoing nuclear talks with the United States.

Trump has pursued diplomacy with Iran as he seeks to avert threatened military action by Israel — a desire shared by many of the region's leaders.

On Thursday, Trump said a deal was "getting close", but by Friday, he was warning that "something bad is going to happen" if the Iranians do not move fast.

Iraq has only recently regained a semblance of normality after decades of devastating conflict and turmoil, and its leaders view the summit as an opportunity to project an image of stability.

In an opinion piece about the summit earlier this month, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani wrote: "Today, we are not just rebuilding Iraq, we are also reshaping the Middle East through a balanced foreign policy, a wise leadership, development initiatives and strategic partnerships."